Posts Tagged: robocalls
The FCC wants to make robocalls that use AI-generated voices illegal
The rise of AI-generated voices mimicking celebrities and politicians could make it even harder for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to fight robocalls and prevent people from getting spammed and scammed. That's why FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wants the commission to officially recognize calls that use AI-generated voices as "artificial," which would make the use of voice cloning technologies in robocalls illegal. Under the FCC's Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), solicitations to residences that use an artificial voice or a recording are against the law. As TechCrunch notes, the FCC's proposal will make it easier to go after and charge bad actors.
"AI-generated voice cloning and images are already sowing confusion by tricking consumers into thinking scams and frauds are legitimate," FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement. "No matter what celebrity or politician you favor, or what your relationship is with your kin when they call for help, it is possible we could all be a target of these faked calls." If the FCC recognizes AI-generated voice calls as illegal under existing law, the agency can give State Attorneys General offices across the country "new tools they can use to crack down on… scams and protect consumers."
The FCC's proposal comes shortly after some New Hampshire residents received a call impersonating President Joe Biden, telling them not to vote in their state's primary. A security firm performed a thorough analysis of the call and determined that it was created using AI tools by a startup called ElevenLabs. The company had reportedly banned the account responsible for the message mimicking the president, but the incident could end up being just one of the many attempts to disrupt the upcoming US elections using AI-generated content.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-fcc-wants-to-make-robocalls-that-use-ai-generated-voices-illegal-105628839.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Company responsible for 7.5 billion robocalls sued by nearly every Attorney General
We can all agree that robocalls are the worst. While there might never be a way to get rid of them entirely (though agencies are certainly working on it), one the most prolific sources of these intrusions is finally getting hauled into court.
CBS News reports that Attorneys General from 48 states (as well as DC) are coming together to file a bipartisan lawsuit against Arizona-based Avid Telecom, its owner Michael D. Lansky and vice president Stacey S. Reeves. The 141-page suit claims that the company illegally made over 7.5 billion calls to people on the National Do Not Call Registry. Arizona Attorney General Kris Meyes claims that nearly 197 million robocalls were made to phone numbers in her state over a five-year period between December 2018 and January 2023.
The lawsuit says that Avid Telecom spoofed phone numbers, including 8.4 million that appeared to be coming from the government or law enforcement, and others disguised as originating from Amazon, DirecTV and many more. The suit alleges that Avid Telecom violated the Telephone and Consumer Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule and several other telemarketing and consumer laws.
The AGs are asking the court to enjoin Avid Telecom from making illegal robocalls, and to pay damages and restitution to the people it called illegally. They're also pursuing several statutory avenues to make Avid cough of money on a per-violation basis, which given the enormous volume of calls it has made, could add up quickly. Sumco Panama, which was responsible for a comparatively smaller 5 billion robocalls, was fined nearly $ 300 million by the FCC late last year.
Earlier this month, it was reported that XCast Labs is being sued by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over allegedly helping other companies call those on the National Do Not Call Registry.
In 2017, Dish reached a settlement that cost them $ 210 million. The company allegedly made millions of calls in an attempt to sell and promote its satellite TV service. Dish ultimately had to pay a $ 126 million civil fine to the US government, and $ 84 million to residents in California, Illinois, North Carolina and Ohio. Hopefully, we’ll see a similar result with Avid Telecom.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/company-responsible-for-75-billion-robocalls-sued-by-nearly-every-attorney-general-220050450.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
AT&T and T-Mobile announce joint effort to block more robocalls to your phone
T-Mobile and AT&T are probably two of the unlikeliest partners to team up for literally anything, but we’re about to see what it’s like anyway. It’s not like they’re partnering together for anything really business-related, anyway, and it’s got nothing to do with mergers between the two of them or any other carrier this time. […]
Come comment on this article: AT&T and T-Mobile announce joint effort to block more robocalls to your phone
[TA Deals] Block those annoying robocalls with a 1-year subscription to Call Control Premium (33% off)
By now you’re probably like the rest of us and you’re getting spammed with robocalls multiple times throughout the day. It’s pretty rare that I don’t get at least one per day, but on average I’d bet that number is closer to half a dozen or so. As frustrating as it is, there’s a solution […]
Come comment on this article: [TA Deals] Block those annoying robocalls with a 1-year subscription to Call Control Premium (33% off)